Miss the good old days - this offseason is brutal

[DavidSeven]

To the OP, things are different now. We can pretend this is "business as usual" in the NFL, but it's really not. The Seahawks are in unprecedented territory for themselves.

Ultimately, the Seahawks really didn't avoid the "Super Bowl Hangover" trap that we all hoped they'd be immune from. Last year, it played out with the departure of Tate, Harvin's over-inflated ego, and a locker-room that was in disarray for most of the season. Now that our Seahawks have gone to back-to-back Super Bowls, the issues are sort of compounding. Guys don't just want to get paid; they want to get paid. And you can't really blame them. They've already proven themselves. They've already won. That is the nature of the Lombardi-winning beast, and every successful franchise has gone through it.

The "good old days" were teams led either by folksy heroes like Largent, Hasselbeck, Walter Jones or role-playing veterans like Michael Robinson, Leon Washington and Red Bryant. It's no longer that tight-knit group of unknowns that started coming together from 2011-2013. For the first time in franchise history, this team is led by multiple national brands. Russell Wilson is a brand. Marshawn Lynch is a brand. Richard Sherman is a brand. Earl Thomas is a brand. Beneath them, you have a bunch of guys who are trying to get at their level in this league (whether it's with Seattle or not).

The dynamic has changed. I'm not saying this is good or bad, but it's definitely a different challenge, and this is not the same group of guys they were in 2011-2013. How could they be? They've been to the top of the mountain and entered popular culture. They're no longer just young, hungry football players. Our top guys are enterprises unto themselves.

 

[Rob12]

I miss the good old days when this team was filled with young, hungry dudes on their rookie deals. I'm not saying that anything is wrong with wanting to get paid - but damn, it takes so much fun out of this. There are some unhappy egos on this team. I don't blindly follow what the media says, but to believe that everything is all gravy at the VMAC these days seems unlikely.

Are you a new fan? Cause since the team began there's been contract holdouts and salary battles with players........it just hasn't played out on social media.

Steve Largent and Dave Krieg crossing the picket lines, The Boz doesn't want to play here, Ken Sleezy Used Car Salesman Behring pulling up to Renton with moving vans, Walter Jones franchised for the 87th year in a row, Hutchinson poison pill debacle, please baby Jesus don't give Sean Alexander a new contract.

Not sure bout everybody else, but I'll take "hmmm, which of our AMAZINGLY talented players do we keep and which ones do we let go because we have too many of them" discussions 7 days a week 365 days a year 24/7.

I'm 33, and have loved the Seahawks for 26 years. Not a new fan in the least.

Just been a rough couple of days for me.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

Human nature has not changed in 6000 years. In most cases, human behavior is quite predictable.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Sorry for the bitter tone previously, but this place has gotten a little too doom-and-gloomy recently, and we already have a Blitzer. We don't need a bunch more.

This team is coming off of 2 NFC Championships in a row, 1 Lombardi and damn near another, and we're still one of the youngest teams in the league. Oh, and we just traded for the best receiving weapon we've had in years.

And what are our "problems"? A RB who couldn't decide if the money he was slated to get would keep him from retiring, so he got a new deal. A DE who's making noise about wanting more money. A LB who has destroyed his leverage by saying he wants to go to his hometown when his contract with Seattle is done. And, finally, a QB who has been delivering miracles while on the team-friendliest deal that the league has seen in seemingly a generation who doesn't automatically jump at the team's initial offer when it's time for him to get a new deal.

That's it, folks. It's not the end of the world. 75% of the league - if not more - would LOVE to have our problems.

BINGO, thread winner right there! ^ :th2thumbs:

 

[Sports Hernia]

Blitzer and I both live in Pasco. Maybe it's something from Hanford that is messing with our heads. I don't know.

Appreciate the tone. No need to apologize. I needed the frankness.

Do you both glow in the dark????? 8)

 

[netskier]

Consider consuming zeolite if you think there are radioactive materials in your food and/or water. It adsorbs all heavy metals, not just the radioactive ones.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

In this case, the Good Old Days was 3-5 seasons ago when we were all excited to see Pete and John sweep all the old, slow, and broken players out the door and build their "college program" in brand-spankin-new college navy uniforms.

But since the beginning so much of the chatter was about "how will Pete handle it once his ties to the collegiate game are further out and John has to figure out how to pay those young studs?" So we knew this was coming, we just never exactly knew what it would look like. Add in mercurial social media and the muddy waters get murkier.

Pete and John handled the first couple waves with aplomb: the foresight to reward Kam as the enforcer he's become, locking up Earl, Sherman, and KJ, letting replaceable guys like Breno and Carp walk, working the tightrope of Marshawn's contract. They had their misses, but every power hitter swings a little too hard and strikes out occasionally, to mix sports metaphors.

But everyone knew the tsunami on the horizon was Wilson's second contract. It was always the "yeah, but" for those who didn't enjoy the Seahawks' success as much as us 12s did. We've been frolicking naked and carefree in the blue lagoon. All the while, the shoreline has been slowly receding and the tidal wave building momentum in the form of back-to-back Super Bowl appearances and Seattle's first Lombardi Trophy.

In the past, our FO has skillfully protected the team – and by association, us fans – from the monsoons and riptides. They've kept the program intact and thriving. Now they're facing their biggest challenge contract-wise. It's a different ballgame, but it's the same sport, same arena. Pete and John will get everyone to higher ground while they surf the most bodacious, gnarly, excellent wave this franchise has ever seen.

Nice. :th2thumbs:

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

Great points on the big picture from both David and Kearly. As for Bennett in particular, I think this stuff...

Bennett doesn't know what he wants, Bob and Wassell played two clips today at noon. One was Bennett last year saying that he didn't care about the money, he just wanted to be on a team with great teammates and an organization contending for SB's.

The other was last night saying he wants to be on the all Finance team.

Make up your mind Mike. You could have easily gone to Oakland and made 10-12M a year...........and lost 12 games a year as well.

... is pointing more at his agent. Drew Rosenhaus is behind all the stink. That's why Bennett took so long to address the rumors and why he's been less than consistent, even stammering at times. The deceit does not come naturally for the "barefoot brother," but he also wants to play the business side and he may be listening to some ingenuous characters ***cough*** his agent ***cough***

BTW, those rumors began in Dallas, exactly where Rosenhaus was working on getting Greg Hardy his deal with the Cowboys. That is NOT a coincidence. Drew knows the offseason, he knows the media, he has a huge staff devoted to creating buzz, and he has a client who's a back-to-back Super Bowl stud and who's now a top-100 player according to the NFLN players' poll. With his rep, you know Rosenhaus doesn't stay quiet with that kind of product on his roster.

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

Nice. :th2thumbs:

:thirishdrinkers: Hurray! Hurrah!

 

[Rob12]

Once and for all guys and gals, I'm sorry for even starting this dumpster pile of a thread.

Been a fan for 26 years. By the good old days, I meant when the LOB was just about to be born and RW was getting ready to unleash hell on the league. When the new breed of the Seattle Seahawks was coming.

But, I tend to overreact sometimes. I did it here. Sometimes we become spoiled and temporarily lose perspective. My bad.